“It is not my place to decide any theological question,” began Georgiana when they had quitted the gloom of the Duomo’s interior, “but such a display approaches too nearly to idolatry for my comfort. I am sure he was a very good and a great man, but he was a man; such reverence and display seem—to my view—to promote the worship of the man more than the God who made the man, and the Saviour who redeemed him. And, surely, all of that wealth that surrounds the saint could be better used in feeding and cloathing the poor, relieving the worst of their wants. Such wealth and veneration appears—in my own view—to be more a distraction from faith, than a corporeal justification for it.”

“But remember,” answered Mr. Darcy, “that to a Catholick adherent, the Pope is God’s representative here on earth. It was Pope Paul V who conferred Borromeo’s divinity.”

Georgiana was not usually wont to reply to such a definitive conclusion, especially one received as the wisdom of her brother, but she answered his explanation with a firmness that Elizabeth had never before witnessed: “Yes, Brother, but he was a man, chosen by men. Whether or not the choice of these men is acceptable and consistent with the will of God is a matter for each to determine according to his faith. My faith dictates that such a sumptuary display and reverence for any man is offensive to God, and from everything I have read about the life of Charles Borromeo, I would venture his agreement.” Mr. Darcy was both too surprised and too satisfied by her answer to rejoin.

The Darcys visited the ancient Church of St. Ambrose and saw its mosaics; Santa Maria della Grazie and Leonardo’s “The Last Supper,” which existed in a most deplorable state of decay; the Palazzo Reale and its grand Sala Cariatidi; various piazzas and casas; the square of the ancient Castle of Milan, which is all that remained; the Great Hospital; the Ambrosian Library and the Brera Gallery. The family frequented the shops—selling every conceivable luxury, and seeming to vie with one another for the most opulent interior—walked along the Giardino Publico, La Rena, or the esplanade of the Castle, and took refreshment in one of the numerous and elegant coffee-houses.